The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has enlarged the scope of the land-for-jobs scam probe as it conducted searches on Tuesday at the premises of the RJD party’s Rajya Sabha MP Prem Chand Gupta and MLA Kiren Devi and her husband Arun Singh spread across nine locations in Bihar, Haryana, and Delhi to unearth more evidence.

While the searches of Devi and Singh’s premises were in Arrah and Patna in Bihar, the investigators landed at Gupta’s residence and office in Gurugram and Rewari in Haryana, Noida in UP, and Delhi, CBI sources stated.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who has been chargesheeted in the scam, has been accused of conspiring with his wife, Rabri Devi, daughter Misha Bharati, and others, including officials, to offer jobs in lieu of land during his tenure as the railway minister from 2004–2009. The selected candidates, as a quid pro quo, allegedly sold land to family members of then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad at a highly discounted rate of one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market value, as the CBI had charged.

The railways did not advertise or issue public notice for vacancies as “substitutes”, said the CBI.

Reacting to the CBI raids, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary launched a counterattack and stated that the Centre has started “misusing” central agencies against opposition leaders to settle scores soon after the defeat in Karnataka. “Shaken by the Karnataka election results, the BJP-led government has once again started misusing central investigative agencies to settle scores outside of the electoral battlefield. Today’s searches on our leaders have once again exposed the BJP as to how they are using central agencies against opposition leaders,” Tiwari said.

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